America's Victory

November 11, 2002
This full-fledged history of the first America's Cup yacht race—the oldest international trophy in competitive sports—begins in 1851, when the schooner America
beat Great Britain's fastest yachts in a race around the Isle of Wight. Shaw (The Sea Shall Embrace Them) has written extensively about sailing; here he produces an exciting story beginning in the wealthy estates of the members of the New York Yacht Club, who financed the construction of a boat whose revolutionary design humbled those built in the U.K., considered then to be the greatest maritime nation. Exceedingly well-researched and documented, Shaw's history offers a first-time look at "the working-class men with strong backs and dirty hands who designed, built, and sailed the yacht, and who never really got credit for their efforts." The book is rooted in Shaw's finely etched portraits of designer George Steers, a "shy genius of naval architecture," and Capt. Richard Brown, who led the team of men who sailed the yacht to victory and provide Shaw an opportunity to discuss the Sandy Hook pilots of New York Harbor, an overlooked element of U.S. sailing history. And while Shaw produces an exciting recounting of the great race itself, he provides an equally fascinating depiction of the boat's dangerous and turbulent voyage across the Atlantic Ocean to get to the competition. He also includes a wonderful appendix on the post-race fate of the America—from its use by the Confederate Army to an ignominious post–WW II end. (Jan. 6)Forecast:The 31st America's Cup race, scheduled for February 2003, should give this high-quality and engaging book the high profile it deserves.

Most people are unaware that Americans have been racing yachts since the 1850s. David Shaw tells the story of how a young boat designer created the AMERICA, a yacht that in 1851 would compete, and win, against the boats, and arrogance, of the British. The race is a relatively small part of the book, yet it is the most exciting, and the intensity of Patrick Cullen's somewhat monotone reading increases dramatically during this segment of the story. The remainder of the book focuses on events before the race, including AMERICA's rough journey across the Atlantic to Britain. Overall, Cullen's reading is workmanlike, although he seems to lose focus during the book's more mundane passages. But the book succeeds because of Shaw's deep knowledge of sailing and his ability to convey it in terms even the least knowledgeable listener can comprehend. D.J.S. (c) AudioFile 2004, Portland, Maine